Chapter 22 · Moonclaim - Chapter 22: No Windows Upstairs

The elevator doors opened on silence.

Leon's office door was wide open. The lights were on. Someone had left a coffee cup on the edge of his desk, still steaming.

Ivy's pulse hammered in her throat. Leon stepped out first, one hand behind him to keep her back. His shoulders were locked tight.

They crossed the hall. Twenty feet. Fifteen.

The office was trashed. File cabinets yanked open, papers scattered across the floor. Leon's laptop was gone. The wall-mounted screen was cracked down the middle, dark.

"Stay close," Leon said. His voice was flat.

Ivy moved with him into the doorway. The coffee smell hit her first. Fresh. Whoever had been here was still close.

Then she saw the man.

He was standing by the far window, back to them, hands in his coat pockets. Older. Gray at the temples. He didn't turn around.

"Leon." The man's voice was smooth. Tired. "You made good time."

Leon went still. Ivy felt it in the air between them, the way his whole body turned to stone.

"Marcus," Leon said.

The man turned. His face was lined, sharp-boned. He looked like Leon. Same jaw. Same cold eyes.